NVIDIA’s Mainstream Resurrection

NVIDIA GeForceFX 5700 Ultra Preview

This content was originally featured on Amdmb.com and has been converted to PC Perspective’s website. Some color changes and flaws may appear.

It seems like NVIDIA has had better years. Despite very strong support in their nForce2 product line and subsequent updates, their graphics products have been lacking the same enthusiasm amoung the technically savvy. For whatever reason (I’m sure many of you can make a whole list of reasons!), the GeForce FX series product line failed to ignite the spark NVIDIA has enjoyed since introducing the original TNT card.

NVIDIA GeForceFX 5700 Ultra Preview - Graphics Cards 9

Today NVIDIA is releasing their FX5700 Ultra and FX5950 Ultra graphics card. As their names suggest, they are products aimed at the upper mainstream and enthusiast markets respectively. The promotional material we have read and the talks we have had with NVIDIA would suggest that the company is attempting to refocus their product’s value and performance. I would almost say that there’s a hint of humility in their attitude right now, but perhaps I’m just reading too much into things? 😉

Today we will be taking a preliminary look at the FX5700 Ultra. Due to time constraints, today’s article is classified as a “Preview” of the FX5700 Ultra. A more in-depth review that many of you are familiar with (complete with more benchmarks and touchy-feely comments by me) will be available shortly.

  FX5950 Ultra

FX5900 Ultra

FX5700 Ultra FX5600 Ultra FX5600
Memory (MB) 256 256 128 128 128
Memory Interface (bits) 256 256 128 128 128
Memory Type DDR-I DDR-I DDR-II DDR-I DDR-I
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) 30.4 27.2 14.4 12.8 11.2
Manufacturing Process (microns) 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13
Core Clock (MHz) 475 450 475 400 270
Memory Clock (MHz)
475 425 450 400 275
Street Price (USD) ~$500 ~$370 under $200 ~$160 ~$130
Category Range Highest Highest Mid Mid Mid

In addition to the differences in specs, the FX5700 Ultra sports some other changes notably:

  • First 0.13u NVIDIA GPU made from IBM’s fab
  • DDR-II support

According to the press kit from NVIDIA, the sum of improvements should give the FX5700 Ultra a 3-fold performance boost over the FX5600. Of course all this information looks nice on paper, but how does it perform in reality? Are there enough changes made to the FX5700 Ultra to win back customers? Is NVIDIA successful in revitalizing their mainstream product? Ultimately, should you even consider this product in your next upgrade?

Today you will likely read a lot of other articles showcasing the FX5700 Ultra, and hopefully our first-look of the product will give you the perspective that you’ve come to expect from AMDMB.com.

 

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